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Drink

Toast Water

A drink made by steeping a slice of stale bread in boiling water for two hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Toast Water

Toast Water

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil 1 quart of water.

  2. Toast the bread until deep brown all over.

Infuse and strain

  1. Plunge the toasted bread into the boiling water.

  2. Let it stand for 2 hours.

  3. Strain the mixture.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Stale bread
Toasting browns the bread, and its toasty, roasted aroma and flavor pass into the water.
Water
Acts as the solvent that draws flavor and aroma compounds out of the toasted bread.

The step that matters

Toast the bread until deep brown all over. Browning drives the Maillard reaction and caramelization, which create the toasty, roasted flavor compounds. Pale or patchy toasting leaves the water tasting flat and weak.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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